@ The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh, until Sun 30 Aug 2015 @ 19:50
Andrew Doyle’s show may be more about Mahatma Gandhi than minimalism, but his staging is minimalist and that’s just how he wants it. Doyle should be commended for this lack of props, glitzy set or fancy outfit, as it allows him to let his jokes do the talking, and the jokes are very, very funny.
Doyle’s self-deprecating style draws the audience in, although amongst his frequent interactions with the room, he makes it clear he has no intention of connecting with anybody! His show relies heavily on making fun of “the gay scene” and on the bizarre animal references used to describe those on the gay dating scene—the Edinburgh audience lap it up.
He hates the pride many people take in the identity they were born with, rather than that which they have created for themselves and would prefer to be likened to Gandhi who, towards the end of the show, he describes as ‘a bit of a bitch’. He channels his own inner bitch when he sends a young man to the bar to get him a drink and then proceeds to berate him and encourage his girlfriend to dump him on his return.
Ramsgate, Gibraltar and parents all become unlikely victims of Doyle’s razor sharp tongue, and his beguiling turn of phrase when delivering his jokes adds an intelligent edge to his delivery, most notably referring to Facebook as ‘the commodification of the self’.
As the show draws to a close, Doyle encourages those in attendance to return again to see him, and given the laughter in the room he shouldn’t have a problem with that request.